2 Corinthians 11
He is forced to commend himself and his labours, lest the Corinthians should be imposed upon by the false apostles.
Utinam sustineretis modicum quid insipientiæ meæ, sed et supportare me:
Would to God you could bear with some little of my folly! But do bear with me.
æmulor enim vos Dei æmulatione. Despondi enim vos uni viro, virginem castam exhibere Christo.
For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God. For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Timeo autem ne sicut serpens Hevam seduxit astutia sua, ita corrumpantur sensus vestri, et excidant a simplicitate, quæ est in Christo.
But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Nam si is qui venit, alium Christum prædicat, quem non prædicavimus, aut alium spiritum accipitis, quem non accepistis: aut aliud Evangelium, quod non recepistis: recte pateremini.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Christ, whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, whom you have not received; or another gospel, which you have not received: you might well bear with him.
Existimo enim nihil me minus fecisse a magnis Apostolis.
For I suppose that I have done nothing less than the great apostles.
Nam etsi imperitus sermone, sed non scientia, in omnibus autem manifestati sumus vobis.
For although I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge: but in all things we have been made manifest to you.
Aut numquid peccatum feci, meipsum humilians, ut vos exaltemini? quoniam gratis Evangelium Dei evangelizavi vobis?
Or did I commit a fault, humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached unto you the Gospel of God freely?
Alias ecclesias expoliavi, accipiens stipendium ad ministerium vestrum.
I have taken from other churches, receiving wages of them for your ministry.
Et cum essem apud vos, et egerem, nulli onerosus fui: nam quod mihi deerat, suppleverunt fratres, qui venerunt a Macedonia: et in omnibus sine onere me vobis servavi, et servabo.
And, when I was present with you and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was wanting to me, the brethren supplied who came from Macedonia. And in all things I have kept myself from being burthensome to you: and so I will keep myself.
Est veritas Christi in me, quoniam hæc gloriatio non infringetur in me in regionibus Achaiæ.
The truth of Christ is in me, that this glorying shall not be broken off in me in the regions of Achaia.
Quare? quia non diligo vos? Deus scit.
Wherefore? Because I love you not? God knoweth it.
Quod autem facio, et faciam: ut amputem occasionem eorum qui volunt occasionem, ut in quo gloriantur, inveniantur sicut et nos.
But what I do, that I will do: that I may cut off the occasion from them that desire occasion: that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
Nam ejusmodi pseudoapostoli sunt operarii subdoli, transfigurantes se in apostolos Christi.
For such false apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
Et non mirum: ipse enim Satanas transfigurat se in angelum lucis.
And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light.
Non est ergo magnum, si ministri ejus transfigurentur velut ministri justitiæ: quorum finis erit secundum opera ipsorum.
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers be transformed as the ministers of justice, whose end shall be according to their works.
Iterum dico (ne quis me putet insipientem esse, alioquin velut insipientem accipite me, ut et ego modicum quid glorier),
I say again (Let no man think me to be foolish: otherwise take me as one foolish, that I also may glory a little):
quod loquor, non loquor secundum Deum, sed quasi in insipientia, in hac substantia gloriæ.
That which I speak, I speak not according to God: but as it were in foolishness, in this matter of glorying.
Quoniam multi gloriantur secundum carnem: et ego gloriabor.
Seeing that many glory according to the flesh, I will glory also.
Libenter enim suffertis insipientes, cum sitis ipsi sapientes.
For you gladly suffer the foolish: whereas yourselves are wise.
Sustinetis enim si quis vos in servitutem redigit, si quis devorat, si quis accipit, si quis extollitur, si quis in faciem vos cædit.
For you suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take from you, if a man be lifted up, if a man strike you on the face.
Secundum ignobilitatem dico, quasi nos infirmi fuerimus in hac parte. In quo quis audet (in insipientia dico) audeo et ego:
I seek according to dishonour, as if we had been weak in this part. Wherein if any man dare (I speak foolishly), I dare also.
Hebræi sunt, et ego: Israëlitæ sunt, et ego: semen Abrahæ sunt, et ego.
They are Hebrews: so am I. They are Israelites: so am I. They are the seed of Abraham: so am I.
Ministri Christi sunt (ut minus sapiens dico), plus ego: in laboribus plurimis, in carceribus abundantius, in plagis supra modum, in mortibus frequenter.
They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise): I am more; in many more labours, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
A Judæis quinquies, quadragenas, una minus, accepi.
Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes save one.
Ter virgis cæsus sum, semel lapidatus sum: ter naufragium feci, nocte et die in profundo maris fui,
Thrice was I beaten with rods: once I was stoned: thrice I suffered shipwreck: a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea.
in itineribus sæpe, periculis fluminum, periculis latronum, periculis ex genere, periculis ex gentibus, periculis in civitate, periculis in solitudine, periculis in mari, periculis in falsis fratribus:
In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren:
in labore et ærumna, in vigiliis multis, in fame et siti, in jejuniis multis, in frigore et nuditate,
In labour and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness:
præter illa quæ extrinsecus sunt, instantia mea quotidiana, sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum.
Besides those things which are without: my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches.
Quis infirmatur, et ego non infirmor? quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror?
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?
Si gloriari oportet, quæ infirmitatis meæ sunt, gloriabor.
If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things that concern my infirmity.
Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui est benedictus in sæcula, scit quod non mentior.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that I lie not.
Damasci præpositus gentis Aretæ regis custodiebat civitatem Damascenorum ut me comprehenderet:
At Damascus, the governor of the nation under Aretas the king, guarded the city of the Damascenes, to apprehend me.
et per fenestram in sporta dimissus sum per murum, et sic effugi manus ejus.
And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall: and so escaped his hands.